Apple pushes Safari to Windows users

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According to AppleInsider, Apple is somewhat stealthily trying to get a bigger share of the Windows web browser market by leveraging its huge iTunes user base and recommending that they install Safari.

Apple’s Software Update, installed on Windows machines with ITunes, has been used to deliver updates to both iTunes and Quicktime, but it now seems that Apple is happy to push other Windows-friendly products via the mechanism too.

“Earlier today, Apple released the Safari 3.1 Web browser for Mac OS and Windows XP/Vista. A couple hours later, Apple Software Update popped up on my daughter’s Sony VAIO, offering Safari 3.1 for download,” noted Microsoft Watch’s Joe Wilcox. “I didn’t recall seeing an earlier version installed on the laptop. And I made no mistake: The Apple updater offered installation of new software, not something that had been there before. Whoa.”

Of course, users can make their own mind up. They may grudgingly use iTunes because they’ve got an iPod or an iPhone, and don’t want any more Apple software on their PC. Or, they may consider Apple’s alternative to Internet Explorer.

Wilcox isn’t convinced how well Safari will do in the PC landscape. “Safari is fairly new to Windows and has yet to really show that it has can muster the security to withstand the associated attacks,” he wrote. “Mac OS X is a quaint neighborhood where little Safari was safe. By comparison, Windows is a gang-ridden ghetto: life is survival, and it’s tough going.”